A textbook can tell you about history, what happened, and why, but only a person's own story can tell you how it felt. Firsthand accounts of events like the Vietnam War offer a perspective that deepens our understanding. Ralph Boirum spent a year on the frontlines of Vietnam, witnessing history as it unfolded. Decades later, from his home in Mill Creek, Ralph decided to put those experiences into words, preserving not only his own story, but the stories of those who never had the chance to tell theirs.

Ralph grew up in Illinois, where his family had a long history of military service. While in college pursuing an engineering degree, he felt stuck between continuing his education and a growing desire to serve. He wanted adventure and a chance to prove himself. When the GI Bill offered the promise of financial support for school, Ralph saw a clear path forward. He joined the Army in 1967, completed basic and advanced individual training, and arrived in Vietnam later that same year.

As an infantryman, he recalls the endless patrols through the upland jungles and Mekong Delta rice paddies, under the constant pressure of an active war zone. His service coincided with the Tet Offensive, a massive coordinated series of attacks by enemy forces that marked one of the war’s most intense periods. He was involved in dangerous, direct efforts to keep supply routes open and prevent enemy forces from reaching Saigon. While Americans watched the war unfold on their television screens, soldiers like Ralph were living it day by day. By the end of his year-long deployment, Ralph had been awarded two Purple Hearts, along with two Bronze Stars, for his actions in the field.

Back home, the country was already beginning to turn away from the war. Ralph quickly sensed that conversations about Vietnam were often brief or avoided altogether. With little space to revisit the past, he focused instead on what came next, finishing his education. After earning a master’s degree in Geotechnical Engineering, Ralph had several job offers, including one in Seattle. He came to visit and was immediately struck by its beauty. “It was pretty easy to fall in love with the place,” Ralph said with a chuckle. He accepted the job and, soon after, found his home in Mill Creek.

Life in Mill Creek settled into a rhythm and a thriving engineering career followed. As the decades passed, Ralph’s thoughts often wandered back to Vietnam. At home, he shared memories with his wife, who encouraged him to write them down. Before long, those memories became a collection of stories, enough to form a book. The desire to keep that history from fading became his motivation. “The whole thing is being forgotten. I’ve had a great deal of difficulty finding anybody I served with,” said Ralph. These stories weren’t simply anecdotes from his life, but a preservation of lived experience.

His book, Vietnam Through My Eyes, was first published in spring of 2024. The response he received was encouraging, and it affirmed that the experiences he had lived through resonated with others. Still, when Ralph reread the book months later, he felt there was more to say. Wanting the story to feel complete, he turned back to his writing and began describing more of his experiences. In December 2025, a second edition was published, featuring eight new chapters and more than 30 additional photographs.

Ralph’s experience in Vietnam also shaped his engineering career. After witnessing the destruction of war, he spent his life helping create infrastructure meant to serve people. His work carried him around the world, from the design and construction of U.S. embassies and consulates to water treatment plants that directly improved public health and life expectancy in the communities they served. Closer to home, his impact is visible across Washington, including projects such as the Columbia Center, the West Seattle Freeway Bridge, and the Downtown Seattle Transit Project. Together, this body of work reflects a career defined not just by its scope, but by its purpose, earning Ralph the Engineer of the Year award in 2025 for the lasting good his work has brought to others.

Ralph’s life has been marked by resounding moments, and through it all, he remains humble and content with life in Mill Creek, surrounded by his loving family. He understands how closely the future is tied to what we remember from the past. Writing about Vietnam was never about reliving it. It was about preserving it. “Vietnam Veterans are rare these days and getting even more rare. I don’t want us to be forgotten,” Ralph said. His book is an effort to preserve a truth that is now at risk of disappearing, a history not destroyed by bombs, but by silence.